and wash off the soap.
I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere.
- Does that look clean to you?
- Nothing's clean, Howard.
But we do our best, right?
Yeah.
What do you think?
- Well, I look all right.
- You look great.
Will you marry me?
You're too crazy for me.
I gotta go, baby.
Okay.
Thanks.
You'd do it for me.
Hi, Howard. How you doing?
The committee will come to order.
Ladies and gentlemen, I must insist that
we maintain quiet during these proceedings.
All right, Mr. Hughes,
will you stand and be sworn?
Do you solemnly swear that in the matter
now pending before this committee...
...you will tell the whole truth
and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
- I do.
- Pardon me for speaking loudly...
...but I know you have difficulty hearing.
- That's quite all right.
I mean, everybody knows I'm deaf.
I'm not gonna try to hide it.
Mr. Hughes, it is the intention
of this committee...
Mr. Hughes has a statement.
All right, you may proceed
with this statement, Mr. Hughes.
Mr. Hughes, do you have a statement?
I'm gonna attempt to be honest here.
I mean, my reputation's being destroyed,
so I might as well lay the cards on the table.
Senator Brewster, if you hadn't
gone too far overboard...
...if you hadn't put
the red-hot iron in my side...
...I might have been willing to take a
shellacking in this publicity spree of yours.
I may have been willing to sit back and take
a certain amount of abuse simply because...
...well, I am only a private citizen.
Whereas you are a senator...
...with all sorts of powers.
But I think this goddamn circus
has gone on long enough!
- That's quite sufficient.
- You have called me a liar, sir, in the press.
You have called me a liar
and a thief and a war profiteer!
- The witness will restrain...
- Why not tell the truth for once, senator?
Why not tell the truth that this investigation
was really born on the day that TWA...
...decided to fly to Europe? On the day that
TWA first invaded Juan Trippe's territory!
- Sit down.
- On the day TWA first challenged...
...the generally accepted theory that only
Juan Trippe's great Pan American Airways...
...had the right to fly the Atlantic!
- You are not here to make a speech.
I asked for silence!
I asked for quiet in this room...
We have in our possession receipts
in the amount of $170,000...
...acquired from Mr. John Meyer.
Mr. Meyer works for you, does he not?
- He does.
- And what is his official title?
I don't exactly know, senator.
A lot of people work for me.
Can you explain why your press agent
would pay out...
...more than $170,000 to representatives
of the United States Air Force?
- I don't know. You'd have to ask him.
- Well, would you produce him?
- Produce him?
- Will you cause him to appear?
You had John Meyer on the stand
for three days last week.
Be that as it may,
we would like him to reappear.
Would you ask him to return?
No, I don't think I will.
Will you try to have him return?
- No, I don't think I'll try.
- You don't think you'll try?
No, I don't think so.
The $170,000 paid out to the Air Force
in the form of hotel suites...
...TWA stock...
...female companionship.
Now, is it possible that
these could be considered bribes?
I suppose you could call them that, yes.
Would you repeat that?
I said, I suppose you could
consider them bribes, yes.
Well, would you like
to explain that, Mr. Hughes?
I'm afraid you don't know how
the aviation business works, senator.
See, wining and dining Air Force dignitaries
is common in our business.
It's because we all want the big contracts.
All the major aircraft companies do it.
I don't know whether
it's a good system...
...I just know it's not illegal.
You, senator, you are the lawmaker.
If you pass a law that states no one
can entertain Air Force officers, well, hell...
...I'd be happy to abide by it.
Your story is a pack of lies. I can
tear it apart if allowed to cross-examine.
- We're not